Parolee sentenced in SLO County Sheriff deputy assault

July 5, 2011

The Salinas parolee who ran his truck into a San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution on Tuesday.

Michael Youngblood, 26, pleaded no contest to a felony charge of assaulting an officer.

On Memorial Day in 2010, deputy Nate Paul responded to a call at Lake Nacimiento to investigate complaints of noise and overcrowding.

As the deputies arrived, Youngblood allegedly tried to escape by driving his truck through a neighboring campsite and striking a tent before hitting Paul, causing a compound fracture to his leg. The deputy fired several shots at the truck before being hit.

9 Comments

It’s understandable that no one was injured by gunfire… no one actually had a weapon except the guy in the car… let me explain…

Well, the ‘story’ I hear is that the shots bounced off the windshield… I asked ‘how can that be?’ Well, it appears that the bullets they use are designed to avoid collateral damage… like not passing through walls to avoid hurting an innocent person… supposedly they break apart hitting a solid object. Not very effective against windshields, btw.

Personally, I think it is better to give the officers the right ammunition and the right gun in the first place. The Tennessee state police use a 44 magnum… while I understand our sheriffs are moving towards a 9mm… I hope that still isn’t the case…. might as well just issue them a body bag.

You’re posting this as a joke, right? If you’re serious, then you heard the “story” wrong. SLOSO does not use bullets that are designed to break up (the term is “frangible” rounds, by the way, and they are sometimes used in certain sniper rifles for the very reason that you stated). Handgun bullets bouncing off of windshields is actually very common, it’s a matter of the angle of the windshield relative to the shooter. If a person is able to shoot at a windshield straight on with little or no angle, then a bullet will penetrate the windshield with no problem. However, at the angle that most people would be shooting at a windshield, all but the heaviest rounds will frequently bounce off. I’m not commenting on this incident specifically, as I wasn’t there and don’t know any more than what the news reports say, but just in general.

As far as Tennessee state troopers carrying .44 magnums, where do you come up with this BS? Just so you understand that I know what I’m talking about, I retired a few years ago from a law enforcement agency in SLO County and routinely trained with members of the other agencies, including the SO. I currently live in Tennessee and have had the opportunity to talk to some state troopers, every single one of whom was carrying a .40 caliber semi-auto, so you see I actually know a little about the subject, which you apparently do not.

He’s not entirely incorrect. They don’t use frangible rounds but they do use lead hollow points which have more spread so they don’t penetrate multiple layers (like multiple walls). That being said, first you shoot the safety glass to fracture it and then you shoot through the fractured area. Or am I mistaken?

If for any reason the police should accidentally shoot you (it happens)… then you should be glad it was a 9mm and not a ..40 or .45, the preferred police caliber, because one hit and it’s probably lights out. I think a 9mm, especially in this area, is sufficient. Plus they are significantly lighter, especially Glocks, the most common police sidearm.

No, they’re not “lead hollow points.” They’re lead based, but they have a copper jacket. A lead bullet would jam up a semi-auto very quickly, due to lead being such a soft metal. Understand that law enforcement in general does not carry any specially designed rounds, particularly patrol officers and deputies. What they carry is off-the-shelf standard ammunition available to anyone from any gun shop, the departments just tend to buy it in bulk.

Regarding caliber, I have always preferred the largest and heaviest round I could carry. I carried a 9mm when required, but when given the choice I always carried a .45.

It took me a minute to realize the title was supposed to read “Parolee”. Also, “The deputy fired several shots at the truck before begin hit” makes no sense. Even if “begin” was supposed to be “being”, the sentence is confusing.

Maybe a trip to the eye Dr. is in order? Or Dyslexia? I read the word being.

The sentence “The deputy fired several shots at the truck before being hit” Confussing? Well the truck (the man was driving) was heading towards the cop, cop fires at the truck (maybe trying to hit radiatior or just paniced at BEING hit) truck keeps on coming at cop and hits him physically.

I don’t understand why you are bashing the writer of article here???

As far as Youngblood, I remember when CCN talked about this story way back when and a few of his buddies posting here telling us how poor ol Mikey was just misunderstood. Well it sounds like the jury understood Mikey juuuust fine…..